ARTICLE

British news outlet 'The Guardian' launches year-long series on homelessness

Feb 27 2017

Posted by: Staff

By: Amelia Ferrell Knisely

British daily newspaper The Guardian has launched a year-long series on homelessness that will take a look at people living on the streets in the United States.

"We’re bringing you this series of stories about the people and places that are grappling with the homelessness crisis. Over the next year we’ll publish news articles, in-depth reporting, investigations, films and interactive graphics,” the outlet said Feb. 16 in a story announcing the series, "Outside in America." The project is funded, in part, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"Homelessness is not new. It has been a feature of American cities, towns and rural areas for decades. But there is a growing consensus – particularly across the western U.S., which is the focus of our project – that the problem is worsening, reaching levels that should not be tolerated in one of the richest countries in the world,” the announcement said.

The first dispatch of the series takes a look at challenges facing the country’s method of counting people experiencing homelessness.

The project is anchored from The Guardian’s West Coast bureau in San Francisco, and content will be made available to some street papers in the International Network of Street Papers.

The project also enables readers to take action through a partnership with Speakable, a technology company that facilitates civic engagement. An “Action Button” will be embedded in the series content that will link to volunteer and donation opportunities. The newspaper said, to avoid conflicts of interests, Outside in America’s journalists and editors will have no advance knowledge of which organizations are selected or promoted by Speakable.